Power lift for grain drills



s at. 14, 1948. J. H T RR 2,449,183

POWER LIFT FOR GRAIN DRILLS I 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Jan. 15, 1944 INVENTOR. JOHN H. STARR] r ATTORNEYS Sept. 14, 1948. J. STARR 2,449,183

POWER LIFT FOR GRAIN DRILIJS Filed Jan. 15, 1944 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 50 79 5| 5 ,gas 56 52 5 52 7 32 27 6 59 75 7 s3 33 0. i a II 46 4 j 25 56 5 u as e S 4 INVENTOR. I JOHN H. STARR TORNEYS 54. The gear teeth 52a adjacent the shiftablef tooth elements 54 are cut away, asat 56, so that,

as best shown in Figure 3, a space S is provided in which no meshing takes place between the gear members 35 and 53 except through the shiftable;

tooth elements 53 or 56.

The driven gear member etincludes hub sec tions and 53 which are received, respectively, in hub sections BI and E2 of the casing parts 23 *s'ure shaft 1. to receive the. crankshaft 85.

is preferably square and receives a crankshaft 85 which is square in section to fit the opening 86 in the gear iii). A crank Bl is fixed to one end of the crankshaft 85 and is connected through a link 88 with an arm 85 on the pressure shaft 7. The crankshaft 85 is of appreciable length and is supported, in part, by the casing 2i andfli'n part, by a plate ,QI which is .japertured, as at 92, to receive the axle 4 and the plate 9! is also apertured to receive a bushing on the pres- The plate 9! is apertured, as at 96,

It will be observed that since the opening in the driven gear and 2Q. A pair of generally axially directed bores 63 are formed in the body of the driven gear member 56 and receive the shank section 64 of the cooperating shiftable tooth element, 53 or 54.

Thesetooth" elements are substantially identical and, as best, shown in Figure 2, each includes a tooth,65 carried by a generally rectangular section 66 to which the shank s4 is connected or formed integrally with and which is generally axially slidable in a socket 67 formed in the thickenedpart 59 ofthegear 50, the part 59 also having a recess fill to receive the section 66 of the shiftable tooth element. Each shiftable tooth element 53 or 54 is movable from a position in which the tooth 65 may be engaged by one of the teeth (l5 on the driving member 35 to a position in which the tooth 65 is disposed axially beyond the teeth A5, in which the drive from one member to the other is interrupted. Each tooth element is provided with a coil spring 68 carried by the gear 50 and arranged so as to bias the associated tooth element for movement into a meshing position. One end 68a is anchored to the gear Ell in any suitable manner and the other end fiilblextends through aslot 69'into the bore 63 and into engagement with the shank 513 of the associated shiftable tooth. The outer end of. each shank 66 extends laterally beyond'the side of the gear member 50 and cooperates with suit,- able c'ontrolling mechanism which is carried by the casing 2|. 7

Thecontrolling latch mechanism is indicated in its entirety by the reference numeral 1D and comprises a trip lever H fixed tov a shank or pivot shaft 12 on athr'o'wout dog 75. extends through a boss formed on one of the casing parts. angled section '26 forming a' tooth-disengaging cam and an abutment section 17. ,A spring 13 is. connected between the trip lever H and a lug l9 formed onone of the casing parts andserves to bias the trip lever ii for movement in a dir-ece tion to carry the throwout dog into its ,tooth-' engaging position (Figure 2)'. By pullingon a cable C connected with the trip lever .H, the

throwout dog 15. may be moved into its other:

. Each-of'the casing sections 23 and 24 is formed With a hook portion 88, and these portions are adapted to engageover a bushing 3| carried by the pressure shaft l, whereby the casing 2| is supported in part upon the axle 4 and in part upon the pressure shaft '8. The opening through the hub El, 58 of the driven gear member 55 The shank 12 The throWout/dog includes an 50 through which the crankshaft 85 extends is 1 square and that the bushing 8| with which the hook sections Bil are engaged is slidable along the pressure shaft 1, the entire power lift unit gage the shank of the tooth element 54.

' shafts, namely, the axle shaft 4!, the pressure shaft 1, and the crankshaft 85, merely by loosening the set screw means 33 and shifting the-unit to the position desired. This particular construction greatly facilitates the assembly of the power lift or self-interruptin clutch unit during manufacture and in addition, facilitates its application to grain drills of different modelsor construction,requiring only that the axle shaft 4 and the pressure and crankshafts 7,85 be located in the samerelative positions.

Theoperation of the preferred form of the present invention, described above, is believed to be clear fron r the foregoing description. Referring to Figures 2 and 3, it will be seen that the tooth element 53, as well as the tooth element 54, is out of engagement with the driving gear 35. Hence, the latter, which is carried by the axle 4, rotates idly. If the operator should desire to operate the unit 20 so as to lower the tools,

a pull is momentarilyexerted on the cable C, and

this rocks thetrip lever H, carrying the'throwof. the tooth element 53. The spring 68 associe at ed therewith'immediately shifts the tooth element 53 soas tocarry the tooth thereof in the path of the teeth 45 on the driving gear 35. It will be observed that the initial meshing thus afforded is not required to transmitany great amount of power, merely sufiicient to start the driven gear 5%]. After the gear so has been rotated a slight amount, the gear teeth 45 on the gear 35 engage the adjacent conventional gear teeth 52 on the gear so, whereupon the latter continues to be driven and the crankshaft B5 rotated in thedirection of the arrow shown in' Figure 3, thus swinging the pressure shaftarm 89 downwardly and permitting the'tools' to'be lowered into their operating position. ,Only a momentary pull on the cable C is necessary to initiate the operation ofthe power lift clutch. After the operation has started, the operator releases his .pull on the cable 'C, so that the spring 18 then restores the trip. lever H and associated parts into a positionsuch that thefthrow-out dog l5is.disposed with its cam 16 in a position to en- I I Asthe gear 59 isrotated slightly beyond this point, the cam section it forces the shiftable tooth element 54 out of engagement with the driving gear 35, thus automatically interrupting the drive. As the; shank of the tooth element, either 5301' 54, rides upon the cam section 16, thetrip lever H is momentarily rocked .until the shank passes the abutment section ll. The spring 18 then acts to cause the abutment face 11 to dropbehind the shank 64,'thus locking the driven eleadjacent portibn of the *casingsectidn flis 2156 10 While :I have" showriandde'scribed'hbov the preferred structure in whichth principlesbf the' present-invention havebeen-ifiwrborated itfis t6 be understpod that my inventionis'hofi to be liih ited t6 the particular details-shwn anddescribed 5 sure shaftmounted in substantial pareilielism i latter;power lift--ineaff1s"for thedatter "'com prisihg a pqwer unit adabted" to derive power fromsaii means td'raise j the latter; saidpewe r unit tem 11 prising a, driving; member-i 21 drivn- 'mnibri' ahd power unit may-[he dispqsed in differehftafposiiifons' along saidaxleiarrd-shaft io raise said -fiobl mea 1 a. drivirig memb'er aridi a-dr'iver -m'mbei' disp'qse withimsaid casing; {and m'echEiIiism bQiitrbHabI connecting said" members; and; means -=pr6vidin positionstherealongl dispo ed ubstantially*directly'fabove said '"axl an'da pressure shaft rilis'pqsedi gvh'eraillv forw'ardl ,70 of gmd'abovelsaid axlehrid halvi'rig' means adaptedto ,be" connected with tooimeans ffor raisinand loweririgihe same, power lift means for'operating f saidpressurejshaftycomprising a, suiipqrt harried w by said axle and said sh'aft,"a self-interriiptiiig "75" 4o roks "it. and s cra iksh tj sposedfg nefaniifni;

for: driving said crankshaft, frpm saii'd'sel'f infer br sameriv ne-gear sfiawaiause we iaiit'r 196 iiiihi gear meshes with the other teeth of said driven gear, mechanism controlling the position of said shiftable tooth element, and a part operated by said mechanism and engageable with a part of said driven gear for locking the latter in position when said shiftable tooth element is out of said one position.

9. A power lift unit for agricultural implements and the like, comprising a pair of gears mounted in a position to mesh with each other, one constituting a driving gear and the other constituting a driven gear, said driven gear having tooth means, including a shiftable tooth element adapted, in one position, to mesh with the teeth of said driving gear and to cause the latter to turn said driven gear into a position where the tooth element being mounted for movement relative to the main body of the driven gear and including a shank extending from one side of said driven gear, and a movable controlling latch member adapted, in one position, to engagethe shank of said shiftable tooth element and in response to movement of said driven gear shift said tooth element into a position out of mesh with said driving gear, whereby the drive from one gear to the other is interrupted.

10. In an agricultural implement having a part to be operated by power, a driving member, a driven member, a shiftable part connected with the driven member and adapted to be moved from a position extending generally outwardly of said driven member into a position generally axially inwardly of said first position and engaging the driving member for connecting said members, a support on which said members are mounted, and means disposed in a position adjacent the path of movementof said shiftable cent the driving gear, the latter gear is out of mesh with said driven gear, and means carried by said driven gear movable into a position to engage the driving gear whereby rotation of thelatter acts therethrough to initiate rotation of the driven gear so as to cause the teeth on the latter to move into a position to mesh with the teeth on the driving gear, whereby the drive from one gear to the other is established, and a controlilng latch member movable into a position to engage said movable means on the driven gear and shift said movable means out of meshing engagement with said driving gear, said latch means having a portion engageable with said movable means for restraining said driven gear against further movement in at least one direction.

12. In agricultural implements and the like having a driving shaft and a driven shaft disposed generally in parallelism, power lift means comprising a casing enclosing said shafts, a driving gear disposed in said casing and operatively connected to be driven by said driving shaft, a second gear non-rotatably connected with said driven shaft and disposed thereon in a position to mesh with said driving gear, said driven gear having an axially shiftable tooth element adapted to be moved out of engagement with the teeth on said driving gear, whereby to interrupt the transmission of force from the driving gear to the driven gear, means for biasing said tooth element for movement into meshing position, an arm pivotally mounted on said casing on the inside thereof in a position for controlling the position of said shiftable tooth element, and means on the outside of said casing for operating said arm.

13. In agricultural implements and the like having a driving shaft and a driven shaft disposed generally in parallelism, power lift means comprising a casing enclosing said shafts, a driving gear disposed in said casing and operatively connected to be driven by said driving shaft, a second gear non-rotatably connected with said driven shaft and disposed thereon in a position to mesh with said driving gear, said driven gear having an axially shiftable tooth element adapted to be moved out of engagement with the teeth on said driving gear, whereby to interrupt the transmissionof force from the driving gear to the driven gear, means for biasing said tooth element for movement into meshing position, an arm pivotally mounted on one side of the casing on the inside thereof in a position for controlling the position of said shiftable tooth element, means on the outside of said casing for operating said arm, a

and means on the other side of said casing for engaging said shiftable tooth element for ensuring full engagement when said arm is shifted to a position providing for movement of said tooth element into a position engaging said driving gear.

14. In an agricultural implement having means serving as a drive shaft and a drivenshafthaving means adapted to be connected with tool means for raising and lowering the latter, power lift means therefor comprising a pair of gears connected non-rotatably with said shafts, respectively, one of said gears having an axial opening therethrough adjacent its periphery and a recess at one side between adjacent teeth, a shiftable tooth element mounted in said recess and shiftable therein, said tooth element having a shank extending laterally through said axial opening at the other side of said one gear, and means at said other side of said one gear and engageable with said shank for controlling the position of said shiftable tooth element, and means connecting said one gear with said driven shaft, whereby operation thereof raises said tool means.

15. A power lift unit for agricultural implements and the like, comprising a pair of-gears mounted in a position to mesh one with the other, one constituting a driving gear and the other constituting a driven gear, said driven gear having tooth means, including an axially shiftable element having at one side of the gear a tooth portion and an operating shank extending-beyond the other side of the gear, said tooth portion, in one position of said axially shiftable element, being constructed and arranged to mesh with the teeth of said driving gear and to cause the latter to turn said driven gear into a position where the driving gear meshes with the other teeth of said driven gear and mechanism controlling the position of said shiftable tooth element, said mechanism includinga first part constructed to engage said shank and shift saidelement and a second part constructed to engage said shank and lock said driven gear against backward movement.

16. In an agricultural implement the combination with a self-interrupting unit including driving and driven members and a part carried by said driven member and adapted to be moved relative to said driven member from a position partially engaging said driving member into a position fully engaging said driving member, of a relatively stationary part disposed adjacent said shiftable part and having a cam-like section adapted to engage said shiftable part when said driven member is moved with said shiftable part in said partially engaged position and move said shiftable part into a position fully engaging said driving member.

17. The invention defined in claim 16, further characterized by a casing at least partially enclosing said driven member and carrying said relatively stationary part.

JOHN H. STARR.

1 0 REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Certificate of Correction Patent No. 2,449,183. September 14, 1948.

JOHN H. STARR It is hereby certified that errors appear in the printed specification of the above numbered patent requiring correction as follows:

Column 6, line 51, claim 7 before the -word driving insert a; column 7, line 55, claim 11, strike out an before means and insert the same before movable in line 56, same claim; line 62, same claim 11, for controlilng read controlling;

and that the said Letters Patent should be read with these corrections therein that the same may conform to the record of the case in the Patent Ofl'ice.

Signed and sealed this 28th day of December, A. D. 1948.

THOMAS F. MURPHY,

Assistant Commisszoner of Patents. 

